contact

English translation: switch contact / microswitch

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:contact
Selected answer:switch contact / microswitch
Entered by: Tony M

09:49 Sep 8, 2016
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Electronics / Elect Eng
English term or phrase: contact
I’m translating a laminating machine user manual. On this page:

http://i63.tinypic.com/rsto95.jpg

there are several instances of the word ‘’contact’’. In this particular context, does ‘’contact’’ mean the state of a circuit breaker/thermostat/etc. where its contacts are closed, i.e. they are not separated?

In this manual, there are several pages like this (describing bits), and on each you can see phrases like ‘’circuit breaker contact’’.

On the other hand, in the alarm list (troubleshooting) chapter of the manual there are a number of phrases like ‘the circuit breaker/thermostat intervened’’, but ‘’circuit breaker CONTACT’’ is not used at all.

The manual was probably written by an Italian engineer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Grzegorz Mysiński
Poland
Local time: 16:20
switch contact
Explanation:
It just means that each of these various detectors etc. has some kind of a 'switch contact', which mzy b 'open' or 'closed' — this is what is being indicated by the '0' or '1'.

The word 'contact' itself doesn't per se mean that the contact is made; it is simply referring to the physical contact or switch, whose status is then indicated. This is why in the other example you quote, 'contact' is not mentioned, since it is not referring to any specific contact of the circuit-breaker, for example, but simply to the circuit-breaker as a whole.

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Note added at 3 heures (2016-09-08 13:31:07 GMT)
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Note that in at least some of your instances, thhe 'contact' is referring in fact to a 'microswitch' — note the reference to 'microcontact'.

I cannot emphasize enough that the word contact doesn't in itself make any statement about whether the contact is 'made' (= closed, conductive) or 'broken' (= open, non-conducting).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 heures (2016-09-08 16:21:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Your added information serves to confirm what we already knew: each 'contact' has an associated 'status' — some of which are '0' and some '1'; hence confirming that the 'contact' itself is not the status.

This use of 'contact' is found in EN too, though very often qualified as a 'switch contact' or a 'relay contact', for example. However, I note in my own primary source language FR, the term 'contact' is used in this way to refer to all sorts of miscellaneous items, inlcuding notably things like 'anti-tamper contacts', 'limit switches', and 'microswitches' — I suspect your Italian author was probably using it in the same way.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 16:20
Grading comment
Thank you very much Tony!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +6switch contact
Tony M
3 -2circuit is closed
Châu Nguyễn


Discussion entries: 7





  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -2
circuit is closed


Explanation:
from the picture, 1s and 0s are used to identify the status of various devices. So my guess is 'contact' is when the circuit is closed, which return the value of 1.

Châu Nguyễn
Vietnam
Local time: 22:20
Native speaker of: Native in VietnameseVietnamese

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Henk Sanderson: See my last entry in the discussion
53 mins

disagree  Tony M: Although your inference is correct, that is not actually what it literally means, so this could be misleading elsewhere in Asker's text.
3 hrs
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
switch contact


Explanation:
It just means that each of these various detectors etc. has some kind of a 'switch contact', which mzy b 'open' or 'closed' — this is what is being indicated by the '0' or '1'.

The word 'contact' itself doesn't per se mean that the contact is made; it is simply referring to the physical contact or switch, whose status is then indicated. This is why in the other example you quote, 'contact' is not mentioned, since it is not referring to any specific contact of the circuit-breaker, for example, but simply to the circuit-breaker as a whole.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 heures (2016-09-08 13:31:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Note that in at least some of your instances, thhe 'contact' is referring in fact to a 'microswitch' — note the reference to 'microcontact'.

I cannot emphasize enough that the word contact doesn't in itself make any statement about whether the contact is 'made' (= closed, conductive) or 'broken' (= open, non-conducting).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 heures (2016-09-08 16:21:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Your added information serves to confirm what we already knew: each 'contact' has an associated 'status' — some of which are '0' and some '1'; hence confirming that the 'contact' itself is not the status.

This use of 'contact' is found in EN too, though very often qualified as a 'switch contact' or a 'relay contact', for example. However, I note in my own primary source language FR, the term 'contact' is used in this way to refer to all sorts of miscellaneous items, inlcuding notably things like 'anti-tamper contacts', 'limit switches', and 'microswitches' — I suspect your Italian author was probably using it in the same way.

Tony M
France
Local time: 16:20
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 304
Grading comment
Thank you very much Tony!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Piyush Ojha
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, Piyush!

agree  Henk Sanderson
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Henk!

agree  Jack Doughty
5 hrs
  -> Thanks, Jack!

agree  Yasutomo Kanazawa
15 hrs
  -> Thanks, Yasutomo-san!

agree  Lingua 5B
1 day 20 hrs
  -> Thanks, Lingua!

agree  acetran
3 days 19 hrs
  -> Thanks, Ace!
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